As old as the idiom, drinking away our sorrows is not a new concept, especially not in country music; but its meaning has changed, altered by the pandemic.

Some days joy can be a bit like a dusty bottle stuffed up in our cupboards. Drink too much at once and you notice it’s no longer there (and you might feel terrible after). A

little evaporates each day. An empty bottle can do just as much damage as a full one, sure, but what’s the difference when it’s really the cup we’re trying to keep full.

Do you need a top up? Whitehorse’s “If the Loneliness Don’t Kill Me” asks and answers in the same glug. It skips along like a giddy drunk, right up to its favourite stool at the bar, settles a bet then launches into a story that’ll stick around your head like the last pickled egg bobbing in the jar.

Simple in its two-step swing, its charming lyrics and all-too-true turn of phrase chorus are irresistible lassos that will have you donning your cowboy boots and best Western wear and looking for a partner in crime to test the bottle v. glass metaphor.